Want better Relative Pitch? There’s an App for that.
January 12, 2010 in Articles
Yes, the iPhone/iTouch is amazing. 100,000+ Apps. A lot for free. There are a few diamonds in the ruff, and this one is looking like another find.
RelativePitch is an an iTouch/iPhone app that will drill you on intervals. There is a lite version of it as well. The interface is OK, but I have a few complaints about it. The application does not, at least in the lite version, allow you to vary the root note. Maybe the full version does this, I dunno. Second, the intervals are always UP, as in root then the note above. Down would be a great thing to have in this app as well. Perhaps the full version does it. It would be simple enough to add in an update.
The price? $7.99. Forget that. If the developer knocked it down to $1.99, maybe. You’d be better off searching the web for various free trainers, like http://www.trainear.com/. Hopefully someone will do a better version for the iTouch/iPhone soon. Or a cheaper version. $7.99. Come on people!
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Christopher Sutton said on January 19, 2010
Hi Eric,
Thanks for posting about RelativePitch. I can confirm that the full version does support both random, and chosen root notes. It also lets you train and test ascending, descending and harmonic intervals.
RelativePitchLite is meant as a free and easy introduction to interval training, so it doesn’t provide the full feature set. I think most people who spend time training with RelativePitch find that $7.99 isn’t all that much to pay for the improvements you’ll find in your hearing!
I hope you’ll give it a try
Christopher Sutton
(Developer of RelativePitch)
ericdano said on January 20, 2010
Ok, this is good to know.
Sadly, I’d disagree on the price. That is still highway robbery. If you’d price it $1.99, or $2.99 that would sell. I mean, I can get Harmonic Ear Trainer for $1.99…which also does chords. Or Maestro Music Trainer for $1.99…..
So….$7.99? Really?
Christopher Sutton said on February 23, 2010
Ah, App Store pricing… It’s a really interesting debate. There’s been a ‘race to the bottom’ in terms of pricing, and I think it’s set the expectation that phone apps aren’t worth much – When in fact they can be far more useful and rewarding than a lot of full-price desktop software!
Of course you’re entitled to your opinion, but in the case of RelativePitch, I think ‘highway robbery’ is putting it a bit strongly!
Yes, there are other apps priced lower – but that doesn’t mean that’s all each app is worth. To be perfectly honest, I would say both of the apps you mention are worth more than their asking price, but that’s up to their authors to decide.
RelativePitch is a tool that can really help musicians get more out of music. It’s not an overstatement to say that the benefits it can provide when used regularly can last a lifetime. I think that’s worth the price of a CD!
The fact that a lot of apps in the App Store are priced very low doesn’t change the value of this app. There are a lot of ‘throwaway’ apps, which you might buy, use briefly, and then never spend time with again – $1-$2 is a good price point for these.
I think the free RelativePitchLite lets users determine whether they’ll get a lot of use out of RelativePitch – and if so, $7.99 really isn’t that much to spend!
That’s my opinion, anyway
ericdano said on February 28, 2010
Well, I think $7.99 for the limited features that the program has makes it not worth it. Maybe $2.99. Or $1.99.
For a $7.99 program I expect a lot more. Heck, IamTPain has more features and I paid $1.99.
ericdano said on February 28, 2010
Oh, and who buys CDs anymore? I mean, really, I haven’t bought a physical CD in about 4 or more years.